What Millennials’ Wellness Focus Means For The Housing Market

Millennials, generally those in their late 20s to 40, are a major segment of the home-buying market today. Not coincidentally, many are also in the family creation cycle of their lives, when buying a starter house becomes an imperative. Not surprisingly then, their preferences catch the attention of builders, real estate professionals and home sellers.

One of those strong preferences, according to most surveys, is a home that supports or promotes wellness. If anything, this trend accelerated with the pandemic, when millions of Americans of all ages discovered how well – or how poorly – their homes performed under stress. What does this mean for you if you build homes or sell resale residences?

“The millennial generation has seized the top influencer position in the housing sector, spending more money on buying and remodeling homes than any other audience segment,” declared a recent survey by COGNITION Smart Data conducted for Green Builder Media. The most motivated buyers are renters wanting to take advantage of low interest rates and the ability to work remotely, the survey noted.

Millennial Math

Millennials are the largest generation in U.S. history, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. There are 92 million of them, compared to 77 million baby boomers, the previous largest age group.

In the 30-plus segment of the millennial generation, 35% earn more than $125,000 a year and 51% earn between $55,000 and $124,000, putting them squarely in the middle class, according to CDS.  Older millennials are purchasing homes at the higher end of the median, ($300,000 to $400,000), the group reports, and younger millennials have a median home purchase price of $250,000.

Those looking to buy have typically saved between $11,000 and $50,000, the survey reports. Those who have already bought put down $26,000 to $75,000. The survey also indicates that these buyers prefer new to resale homes, and are typically buying three-bedroom, two-bathroom homes of 1800 square feet or less. How will this impact their growing families? The median time they plan to own these residences is 10 years, after which having an extra bedroom and more square footage might become a more pressing issue.

Millennial Mindset

What do these buyers want when it comes to their homes? “For millennials, wellness is a daily active pursuit,” Monitoring the Future shared in a Goldman Sachs-quoted infographic. Goldman Sachs concluded that “Their active lifestyle influences trends in everything.” That would certainly include their housing preferences, and the CDS study bears that out.

“Respondents ranked happiness first. Protecting the environment and health/wellness were tied for second,” the researchers noted. In their home-buying decisions, neighborhood quality and safety ranked highest for millennials and healthy homes ranked closely below, followed by closeness to open space, walking trails and activities, all of which point to the health potential of communities.

Sustainability Nexus

Millennials’ interest in health extends to an interest in creating a healthier planet. The CDS report shares their preferences for gardening, composting, and cooking organically; all three blend wellness and sustainability.  

This tracks with reports of agrihoods’ growing popularity. “The idea of agrihoods was created long ago, when people lived off the land and relied on each other for sustenance, happiness and well-being,” observed Builder and Developer in a recent article on their resurgent appeal. “Now that COVID-19 has created more fear about living in denser places, it is likely that the pressure to live in the countryside will remain.”

These hybrid farming-suburban developments also speak to millennials’ desire to live more sustainably and a growing ability to work away from an office complex.

Millennial Wish List

Healthy homes to this generation include smart home technology, home fitness spaces and large yards, CDS reports. The home’s community setting should ideally include gardens, rooftop amenities, co-working spaces an outdoor dining, the study adds.

Smart home technology that can enhance wellness includes leak detectors, air quality monitors, water quality monitors, home security, human circadian lighting, voice-controlled faucets and shading.

Home fitness spaces can be dedicated exercise rooms, yoga spaces or wellness/Zen-inspired retreats. They can also be flex areas that a homeowner can customize with a builder to their preferred use.

Large yards, while self-explanatory, can be challenging to find in many suburban developments. Builders are often creating outdoor living space in formerly unused side space with the privacy of a neighboring home’s wall, and forgoing front yards and porches to match buyers’ preferences for more usable backyard amenities, like outdoor kitchens, fire features and private outdoor living zones.

Takeaways

When selling to Millennials, keeping their interests in happiness, sustainability and wellness top-of-mind will yield the strongest selling points. Given that these young homebuyers are at the start of their careers – and building them in an era when many can live far from their employer – can spell success for smaller markets far from the highest cost housing regions.

Real estate consulting firm John Burns calls them “sister cities.” Examples cited by JBREC include Tacoma for Seattle, Greensboro for Raleigh-Durham, Stockton for San Francisco’s East Bay and Colorado Springs for Denver. Greater affordability is their major draw, but so are greater availability, more outdoor space (and more square footage overall), plus a smaller town feel many prefer for starting a family.

This post first appeared on Forbes.com. To see the original, click here.